Last week, Capcom released a new patch for Dragon’s Dogma 2, allowing players to prioritize either graphics or performance in the game settings. This update addresses one of the game’s most criticized aspects: its inconsistent framerate. According to the developers, the framerate issues stemmed from an unexpected source—NPCs overthinking.
In a recent interview with Famitsu (translated via Google), the development team explained one of the critical improvements in the update, which targets an “excessive load on the CPU.” They revealed that in Dragon’s Dogma 2, the CPU’s power is heavily utilized to process each NPC’s ” thoughts,” specifically how they interact with physics and the world around them. This complexity caused a significant strain on the system, especially in areas with many NPCs, like towns.
The team elaborated, “In sequences where many NPCs appear simultaneously, such as in towns, the load on the CPU was very high, which affected the framerate. Since the CPU was the bottleneck, lowering the resolution or reducing the GPU load had little impact on improving the framerate.” Capcom has been reviewing the processing of NPCs’ thoughts and adjusting the execution order of different processes since the game’s release.
As a result, the latest patch introduces graphics quality settings that allow the game to run at approximately 50 to 60 frames per second (fps) on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Steam users can also access a similar setting to help reduce processing demands. This improvement aims to give players a smoother experience without sacrificing too much of the game’s visual appeal.
While the framerate issues frustrated many players, the complexity of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s NPCs is a core part of the game’s charm. Every NPC has its schedule, activities, and relationships to maintain. The Pawns, in particular, continuously adapt to player behavior, learning new combat tactics and providing advice—even if their dialogue sometimes comes off as odd. With every character constantly in motion, it’s no surprise the game became chaotic in crowded areas.